UN urges CAR child-rape probe after failing to follow up on abuse reports for months

The UN has urged countries involved in the child sexual abuse scandal in the Central African Republic to beef up their efforts to bring those responsible to justice, after a string of reports exposing more atrocities and a suspected UN cover up.

“It is important to
do a thorough review of what happened in the past, but also to
drive home the message that there must be no repetition of these
dreadful acts now or in the future,” said UN human rights
chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein in a statement issued in
Geneva.

The sexual atrocities in question only surfaced last month but
describe the events that took place between December 2013 and
June 2014 at a center for displaced people at M’Poko airport in
the Central African Republic capital, Bangui. Besides the French
troops’ crimes, allegations of misconduct by peacekeepers from
Chad and Equatorial Guinea at the same camp were also reported.

France which had launched the probe into the matter has already
identified some of the soldiers accused of the abuse. It is still
unknown whether authorities in Chad and Equatorial Guinea have
followed suit.

“We need to get to the bottom of what precisely was done by
whom and when,” Hussein said. “There must be
accountability for serious crimes, no matter who commits
them.”

The UN has come under fire for failing to take measures to punish
the offenders, despite the fact that none of the implicated
troops were UN peacekeepers at the time of the sexual
misconducts. A new set of documents, shared by AIDS-Free World allege that UN
peacekeeping mission made no attempt to stop the ongoing abuse or
protect children they had been interviewing. In fact, the world
body is suspected of trying to cover the issue up.

According to one of the
reports, 23 soldiers from France, Chad and Equatorial Guinea are
implicated in the child abuse scandal. The sexual abuse of 13
children was documented in the interviews.

“The documents indicate a total failure of the UN to act on
claims of sexual abuse, even when they know that UN involvement
might be the surest route to stopping crimes and ensuring
justice,”said Paula Donovan, AIDS-Free World's co-director.

The documents allege that senior staff member at the OHCHR,
Anders Kompass, who shared allegations of pedophilia with French
authorities to kick-start the investigation, was being persecuted
by the UN officials who accused him of “inappropriately”leaking the report detailing names of the
witnesses. Another document shows UN internal communication
detailing discussions across UN departments about Kompass’ case.

The documents reveal that UNICEF had evidence of abuse but
nevertheless failed to promptly act, with sexual exploitation of
children continuing after the initial interviews held by the
agency in May 2014.

“By agreeing to be interviewed by the UN, the children
expected the abuse to stop and the perpetrators to be arrested.
When children report sexual abuse, adults must report it to the
authorities. A child needs protection and, by definition, does
not have the agency to decide whether to press charges. They
deserved the protection they assumed they would receive once the
UN knew of their abuse,” AIDS-Free World said in a
statement.

According to Donovan some 30 officials were aware of the
violations for months and did nothing. Instead she claims the UN
peacekeeping mission stalled the French investigation by denying
access to witnesses and redirecting them to Geneva human rights
office. It took month before the French investigators received
the same report they initially got from Kompass, but this time
with names of the witnesses and children redacted. The UN
staffers first registered the allegations in a set of interviews
on May 19, 2014, according to the Associated Press, and Kompass
shared the report with French authorities in July, while the UN
finally shared its copy of the report only in March 2015.

The spokesman for the UN secretary-general, Stephane Dujarric,
told reporters that the documents “may or may not be
authentic.”

“In light of this case we are reviewing our practices,
procedures and guidance” for staff and for reporting
incidents, UNICEF spokeswoman Najwa Mekki, said in an email to
the Associated Press on Saturday.